Free Legal Advice Group for Domestic Abuse victims in Berkshire, Buckinghamshire, Oxfordshire and Hampshire

The Domestic Abuse Act 2021 created, for the first time, a cross-government statutory definition of domestic abuse, to ensure that domestic abuse is properly understood, considered unacceptable and actively challenged across statutory agencies and in public attitudes.

‘Abusive behaviour’ is defined in the act as any of the following:

• physical or sexual abuse
• violent or threatening behaviour
• controlling or coercive behaviour
• economic abuse
• psychological, emotional or other abuse

For the definition to apply, both parties must be aged 16 or over and ‘personally connected’.

‘Personally connected’ is defined in the act as parties who:

• are married to each other
• are civil partners of each other
• have agreed to marry one another (whether or not the agreement has been terminated)
• have entered into a civil partnership agreement (whether or not the agreement has been terminated)
• are or have been in an intimate personal relationship with each other
• have, or there has been a time when they each have had, a parental relationship in relation to the same child
• are relatives